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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 18:22:22 GMT -6
Lyra, or so Aubrey felt based on what he had seen of her so far, was just playing, or trying to get what she wanted. Loki... Loki might have been looking for trouble, or testing Aubrey's limits in a more hard-headed way. He was probably humanizing the pup too much, but it felt a little like Loki was waiting for the other shoe to drop, goading Aubrey into doing something more unpleasant.
... He hoped that wasn't what it was. But only time would tell, and only time would really resolve that kind of issue anyway.
So Aubrey was firm with him where he had to be, but not any more than that. And when he had a moment to breathe, he thought that maybe he would give them something else to focus on so they wouldn't have as much time to come up with trouble to get into. Any of them.
He started with Lyra, since she was still the most frequent culprit. She was also the most comfortable being handled, which made sense, considering she wasn't a stray. She still wasn't the type to take it quietly if you picked up one of her paws or anything, but they could work on that, and he didn't need that level of handling for this anyway.
The point was that she would stand in place as he approached, apparently not at all perturbed, whereas he didn't know for sure if Joker would, and he knew for a fact that Loki wouldn't.
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 18:27:00 GMT -6
"Lyra," he said, approaching her. He had begun using their specific names when he was asking one or another of them to do something, just to get them used to hearing it. He hoped that after a while, they'd figure out that it meant them, in particular, just by habituation and process of elimination. She looked up at him, but at the moment that probably had more to do with the fact that he was right next to her.
Then, reaching down, he pressed on her rump until her hind legs folded a bit. "Sit," he said. As her hind legs bent, he let go. For now, that was all he was asking. "Good girl," he said, and fed her a treat.
Then he looked around, to see if the other two were watching.
He was in luck - or maybe they were starting to get bored of finding their own mischief to manage. Both the other pups were watching them. And so, with their eyes on him, Aubrey repeated the process. Pressing on Lyra's rump, he spoke the command again. "Lyra, sit." Her hind legs folded more easily this time, and he rewarded her yet again. "Good girl."
Now to see whether the other pups were absorbing anything by watching her. He honestly hoped they would. It would be hard to teach Loki anything that necessitated touching him otherwise. But Aubrey had noticed that he seemed to be more comfortable in the company of the other two pups, at least.
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 18:33:36 GMT -6
It made sense, since Houluh were dogs, and therefore pack animals... theoretically. Right? He wasn't sure. But he had also noticed that Loki seemed more willing to do something after he had seen one or the other of the pups do it first, so it was his hope that this would make things easier when it came Loki's turn to be taught the same trick.
But for now, he moved on to Joker instead. The more time he gave Loki to prepare himself, and the more Loki saw that there was no harm in what was happening, the better things would be.
"Joker," Aubrey said. "Sit." Joker shied away from Aubrey a little at first, but Aubrey held out a treat to coax him closer, and this was enough incentive for Joker, at least. He was a little more shy than Lyra, but not so distrustful of people that he couldn't be bribed, or coaxed. And when Aubrey said, "Sit," again and pressed on his rump, his hind legs bent the same as Lyra's had. "Good boy," Aubrey said, and fed him a treat.
At this point Lyra, seeing that Joker was getting some attention, came nosing in at Aubrey's side. "Oh, hey girl," Aubrey said, laughing a little despite himself. Well, she wasn't being super pushy right now, so there was no need to reprimand her. "You want to do it too? Alright. Lyra, sit."
He pressed on her rump, and this time he held his hand there until she sat all the way down.
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Post by Jack on Aug 29, 2020 18:34:29 GMT -6
You get the uneasy sensation that you are becoming lost. In front of you, an endless stretch of rippled sand, with the sea barely visible on the horizon; behind you, still more beach, and no exit in sight. How long will it take you to come to the end of this illusion? At least, you hope this isn't reality...
[The next 5 posts yield no results.]
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 18:38:42 GMT -6
She seemed a little confused, but the whole process went so quickly that he didn't really leave her much room to be confused for long. As soon as she sat all the way down, he took his hand away, and gave her another treat. "Good girl, Lyra," he said.
Joker whuffed gently, apparently wanting his own attention, or at least his own treat. "Alright, alright," Aubrey said. "You too. Joker, sit."
Aubrey did the same thing with Joker, pushing until he sat all the way down. "Good boy." Joker was eating the treats readily out of Aubrey's hand now, a ticklish feeling.
Loki was the only one left out now, and Aubrey could almost feel the weight of the third pup's gaze. For a moment, Aubrey simply watched him, and the two of them stared at each other, with Lyra and Joker at Aubrey's side.
"You want to join in too, right?" Aubrey said gently. "It's alright. Loki." Aubrey approached the white and tan pup slowly, and Loki watched him with those same wary eyes, but didn't bolt as Aubrey drew near. Aubrey had to force himself not to hold his breath, to keep his body language relaxed and easy. They couldn't both be tense, or else that would just feed into Loki's already wary energy. "Loki," Aubrey said, moving very slowly and deliberately, so that the pup could see what he was doing. "Sit."
His hand never quite reached Loki's rump. The pup sat before Aubrey could touch him.
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 19:09:39 GMT -6
It looked like he must have been watching the other two very closely indeed when they were learning... That was what Aubrey thought, anyway, though a moment later he found himself second guessing that assessment. Maybe Loki just really didn't want to be touched. Whatever it was though, he sat like Aubrey asked, so Aubrey fed him a treat as a reward. After all, the point of 'sit' was for Loki to sit, and not for him to put up with Aubrey patting him here and there.
Loki ate the treat in his usual hurried fashion, but Aubrey smiled at him all the same.
The other two wouldn't take this lying down, of course, especially not Lyra. She trotted right over, Joker on her heels. "Okay, okay," Aubrey said, laughing again. But this time he started with Joker, not wanting to reward Lyra for her pushiness by giving in to her immediately and giving her the attention she wanted. He didn't think he wanted to encourage that part of her to the point where it became a problem, and he knew he was starting to run a real risk here with that.
"Joker, sit," Aubrey said, and pushed down on the pup's rump. Joker sat, more readily than he did last time, which definitely felt like progress. "Good boy." Aubrey fed him a treat, which he ate with relish.
And then he turned to Lyra. He had half expected her to bark to get his attention, but she hadn't done it.
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 20:27:26 GMT -6
She seemed to sense, somehow, that her turn was coming. Still, she looked very eager when he did turn to her, and was almost moving to sit before he gave the command.
That gave Aubrey an idea. "Sit," he said, and didn't bother with pressing on her rump this time. Lyra, as if she had expected this all along, sat as neatly as you please.
"Good girl," he said, and gave her a treat. She seemed genuinely pleased with herself for having managed it, and her tail wagged enthusiastically as she ate.
Not to be left behind, Joker did the same, though with a little more hesitation, when Aubrey asked him to sit too. It seemed like they were both picking it up quite readily, which Aubrey was relieved to see. He honestly hadn't thought it would be this easy.
... Which just left the question of Loki.
Loki was still watching them, though Aubrey didn't know enough about Houluh or this particular pup to read what he was thinking, except that he wasn't as happy and relaxed as the other two. "Loki," he said experimentally. "Sit."
Loki didn't, but he had only had the command directed at him once before, so Aubrey could hardly blame him. And yet when Aubrey approached, belatedly Loki sat, just as the other two had done.
It was a little late off the mark, but he had still done it, and without Aubrey having to physically prompt him into it either. "Good boy," Aubrey said.
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 20:32:23 GMT -6
If anything, maybe this was more heartening for him to see, since Loki had less practice, and most of his learning was by observation.
After Loki ate the treat, Aubrey decided to try again with him. "Loki," he said, and Loki looked at him, a little startled, maybe, to find himself addressed. Or maybe he was just surprised that Aubrey hadn't left, and had drawn attention to himself again by speaking. "Loki, sit," Aubrey said.
Slowly, Loki sat. "Good boy." Aubrey fed him another treat. At that point though, he really did have to turn his attention back to the other two, or they would fuss. He was, just barely, starting to feel like he had the hang of this. It still felt like juggling a whole bunch of things at once, but he was beginning to feel like it might be possible, just hard and kind of tiring. "Lyra, Joker," he said, calling them both this time. "Sit."
They sat, Lyra quicker, and Joker only a beat behind her. Aubrey gave them their rewards, and with Lyra, at least, he venture a pat. She leaned into it, apparently not perturbed in the least, and having a good time, so he patted her a little more.
They practiced 'sit' a few more times each, until Aubrey felt sure the pups had it down. But all in all, they had picked it up pretty quickly, even Loki. And Aubrey was starting to feel like this could be kind of fun, teaching them tricks.
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 20:57:04 GMT -6
Feeling like he was on a roll, Aubrey decided to teach them all one more trick. This time around he also went to Lyra first, since it had worked out pretty well last time. He knew she was clever, and he could see that she liked to figure these things out. He didn't know if she was necessarily smarter than the other two, but she was definitely more at ease with him, and Loki and Joker were probably more easily able to pick something up if she demonstrated first.
"Lyra," he said. She looked up when he called her name, which was a good sign. The pups were slowly getting used to his using their names with them. The other two, he could see, didn't respond to her name either. That was the nice thing about teaching the three of them together; it was easier to see if they had picked up the name that was distinct to them.
He had her attention, so he moved on to the command he wanted her to learn. "Lay down." As he spoke the words, he pressed down on her shoulder as well as her rump. She seemed confused for a moment, going into a sit, at first, but when he continued to apply pressure to her shoulders, her front legs bent as well. "Good girl," he said, letting her up, and feeding her a treat.
Once she saw the food and heard the praise, she bounced right back from her earlier confusion.
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 21:03:31 GMT -6
She had already learned enough to know that these indicated that she had done what Aubrey wanted, and that was enough to satisfy her. She had also learned the rhythm of these things, and waited while he turned to address the other two pups, not fussing about things anymore. She knew that he would return to give her attention in due course, which made it easier.
Really, she wasn't so bad now that they were doing something interesting. It was possible that she had just been bored this whole time.
"Joker," Aubrey said, moving onto the friendlier of the two strays. He looked up and wagged his tail slowly, as if to show Aubrey that he was paying attention. Aubrey approached, and now Joker didn't shy away from him either. "Lay down," he said, and pressed on Joker the same way he had done for Lyra. After a moment, he went down too, and Aubrey removed his hands. "Good boy." He ate his treat, his tail wagging faster, and while he was preoccupied with that, Aubrey turned his attention to Loki.
Loki must have known what was coming. He had the look of someone who was tolerating something unpleasant as Aubrey drew near, but he didn't shy off to the side or run away. That was progress. "Loki," said Aubrey, "lay down."
He moved his hands, slowly, ever so slowly, to the same positions on Loki. Loki sat immediately, but his front half didn't go down, so Aubrey pressed on his shoulders after all.
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 21:07:31 GMT -6
His touch was light, very light. He half expected to feel Loki shaking beneath his fingers, but Loki didn't. It wasn't fear... maybe. It was hard to say. But the pup's muscles were rigid with tension, so it couldn't exactly be said that he was at ease either. "Lay down," he repeated, and pressed a little.
No dice.
Aubrey was stumped. It had worked for the other two. It wasn't as though Loki couldn't figure things out, since he had done so admirably well with 'sit'. Maybe he needed to watch the other two do it a couple more times...?
But Aubrey also didn't want to just leave this attempt as a failure. He didn't know a lot about teaching creatures to do things; maybe something like this was okay. But maybe it would show Loki that he could do nothing, and Aubrey would stop trying with him. That didn't seem like a good idea to impart, even a little, because Aubrey was sure that if Loki sensed a way out like that, he would latch onto it and not let go.
He could sense the other two pups watching, waiting. He wanted to go back to repeating things with them, but he felt that he should try just a little more with Loki first. It wouldn't be good to abandon him just because he was a little more difficult than the others. Even if Loki really did just want Aubrey to leave him alone, in his heart Aubrey couldn't bear to do it.
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 21:15:25 GMT -6
What else could he do? Aubrey didn't want to keep pressing on Loki when Loki clearly disliked it so much, so he took his hands away. Loki looked as though he were off the hook, but Aubrey hadn't quite given up yet.
An idea occurred to him, and he took out a treat. Loki was interested in these, even if he was a bit more reserved than the other two pups. Aubrey held it in front of him until he could see Loki tracking the treat with his eyes and nose, then brought it very close. Loki licked his lips. Then slowly, Aubrey brought it down low, until it was all the way to the ground. "Loki, lay down," he said gently.
And Loki followed the treat down, until he was lying down on his belly just as Aubrey had hoped.
"Good boy!" Aubrey couldn't help but beam at him, though the excitement in his voice startled the pup more than anything. The treat, Aubrey hoped, would soothe everything over. But for the moment he decided the best thing to do would be to give poor Loki a break, and go back to Lyra, who was probably nearing the end of her patience right about now.
"Lyra," he said, and she perked up immediately at the sound of her name. She definitely recognized it. "Lay down." He moved to press on her, but she was apparently eager to show him what she could do, and she went down without any physical prompting this time.
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 21:20:32 GMT -6
He laughed helplessly. "You're a very clever girl, huh? Here you go." He fed her a treat, and patted her more liberally this time, and she wiggled happily against him. This, though Aubrey, was what puppy love must have felt like.
It was really night and day almost, the contrast between her and Loki. It was funny that they were playmates, and clearly more at ease with each other. Loki was different when Aubrey was involved, compared to when Aubrey wasn't. But Lyra was the same with everyone.
Now he turned to Joker. "Joker," he called. Joker looked up at the sound of his name too. "Lay down." Joker wasn't quite where Lyra was with the trick, but that was alright. Aubrey pressed gently on him, and he went down, and Aubrey let him have a treat after that.
Which brought them back again to Loki.
"Loki," he said. He honestly wondered if it was a good idea to call Loki like this. It was like giving him a warning, that Aubrey's attention was incoming, but it also gave the pup time to anticipate, and to become... anxious, or whatever it was he was.
But Loki did pay attention. He did recognize that Aubrey was referring to him... probably.
"Lay down." This time Aubrey didn't bother with using his hands, and went directly to the treat method that had worked before. And Loki, in turn, went down more readily. It was still slow, but he did it without any real issues.
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Post by Briar on Aug 29, 2020 21:25:58 GMT -6
In some ways, this felt more rewarding than what he had accomplished with Lyra. When it was her, the fact that she picked something up and did it quickly felt... It was too early to say it felt like a given, but still... She didn't make him work as hard for it, he supposed.
With Loki, it felt more like he had overcome something. But he held his own excitement in check this time, and said, "Good boy," very gently, and gave Loki the treat.
Aubrey practiced the trick with each of the pups a few more times after that. Lyra... basically had it down, but practice made perfect, and more repetitions would help her commit it to memory. Besides that, he was pretty sure she wouldn't take it lying down if he worked with the other two and left her out.
After a few repetitions, Joker and Loki started to do the trick without their respective prompts, coming to an understanding of what Aubrey was looking for when he said, "Lay down." After a little more practicing from that point on, he was satisfied with their progress.
By that point it felt as if all the pups had calmed down from when they had first arrived. And now they knew how to respond to a small variety of things - including their names, and the word 'no'. So maybe it was time he let them do a little more exploring, to give them a break from all this learning they'd been doing.
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Post by Jack on Aug 29, 2020 21:26:28 GMT -6
 What's a net doing out here anyway? |
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